Timur PANKOV
ALMATY, Oct 28
(THE GLOBE)
Between the late �80s and early �90s, Julia Roberts was among Hollywood�s top draws. Though not always taken seriously as a dramatic actress � indeed she is at her best in romantic comedy or light drama � Roberts has a special mischievous charm coupled with a wide-eyed vulnerability that translates into a screen charisma reminiscent of a young Audrey Hepburn. Like Hepburn, Roberts possesses an atypical beauty. Pencil thin, long-legged and sporting a thick curly mane of auburn hair upon her head, she is more coltish than elegant. Her great hazel eyes and impossibly large mouth are capable of much expression, particularly joy when she cuts loose with a broad grin and a braying laugh. Unlike Hepburn, Roberts projects a gal-next-door wholesomeness rather than an air of cool sophistication.
A born Southerner, Roberts grew up hanging around the theater people who attended her parents� Actors and Writers Workshop in their Atlanta home. Both she and her brother Eric Roberts were interested in acting and it was he who made it to movies first.
Roberts moved to New York after high school, but did not catch a break right away even though she did manage to score an agent. She made her film debut playing a supporting role opposite her brother in Blood Red, which though completed in 1986 was not released until 1989. She appeared in a couple of made-for-TV movies and one low-budget feature, Firehouse (1987) before getting her first real break in the made-for-cable drama Satisfaction (1988). This led to a large supporting role in Mystic Pizza (1989). Her portrayal of a strong-headed pizza parlor co-owner who seduces a wealthy preppie earned Roberts acclaim and led to her playing the doomed Shelby opposite Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton in the melodramatic comedy Steel Magnolias (1989). Her portrayal earned Roberts an Oscar nomination and made her a star. For her next film, Roberts attempted to branch off into more serious waters playing a medical student who starts tinkering with life-after-death experiences with four other medical students in the uneven Flatliners (1990). During production, Roberts became involved with co-star Kiefer Sutherland. Later in 1990, she had her greatest success to date starring opposite Richard Gere in Garry Marshall�s sentimental romantic- comedy Pretty Woman (1990). The film was a runaway international hit and Roberts became a household name. But despite her sudden rise to superstardom, her career faltered as her subsequent films, particularly Dying Young (1991), have been of uneven quality. Matters weren�t helped when her break-up with Sutherland went public. After shooting her scenes as Tinker Bell in Steven Spielberg�s Hook (1991), Roberts took some time off to repair her personal life, though she did appear briefly in Robert Altman�s The Player (1992). In 1993, she married off-beat country singer Lyle Lovett (they amicably divorced two years later) and then made a successful come back in The Pelican Brief (1993). Her career picked up the following year with I Love Trouble and Pret-a -Porter, neither of which did much to further her career. The much-heralded Mary Reilly (1996) was a box-office fizzle, but Roberts career began picking up again with Michael Collins and Conspiracy Theory (both 1996). In 1997, Roberts made a triumphant return to romantic comedy in the darkly funny My Best Friend�s Wedding.
Some Details:
Born: Julia Fiona Roberts
Nicknames: Julie, Jules, Fiona (Lyle Lovett referred to her as this when he dedicated songs to her)
Date of birth: October 28, 1967 at 12:16am at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta
Hometown: Smyrna, Georgia and lived at 849 Juniper Street until 1970 where she was moved to 432 Eighth Street
Father: Walter-Vacuum salesman at Rich�s department store in Atlanta. He died when Julia was only nine.
Mother: Betty-Secretary for the Georgia Bulletin (a newspaper produced by the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta).
Siblings: Lisa Billingsley Roberts (older sister)-Actress. Eric Anthony Roberts (older brother) Actor. And a half-sister, Nancy.
Height: 5' 9"
Schooling: Fitzhugh Lee Elementary, Griffin Middle School, Campbell High
Marital Status: Brief marriage to Lyle Lovett (June 25 1993 -March 22 1995). Although they are divorced they still remain great friends! :-)
Julia Roberts, American actress, well known by movie �Pretty Woman�.
October 29, 1923 the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed.
October 29, 1929 �Black Tuesday� descended upon the New York Stock Exchange. Prices collapsed amid panic selling and thousands of investors were wiped out as America�s �Great Depression� began.
October 29, 1956 the National Organization for Women was founded.
October 30, 1961 the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb with a force estimated at 58 megatons.
October 30, 1961 the Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef Stalin�s body from Lenin�s tomb.
October 30, 1989 Mitsubishi Estate Company, a major Japanese real estate concern, announced it was buying 51 percent of Rockefeller Group Incorporated of New York.
October 31, 1956 Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole.
October 31, 1984 , Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh security guards.
October 31, 1989 President Bush announced he and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev would hold a summit aboard ships in the Mediterranean near Malta in early December.
November 1, 1952 the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.
November 1, 1954 the western African nation of Algeria began its rebellion against French rule.
November 1, 1989 East Germany reopened its border with Czechoslovakia, prompting tens of thousands of refugees to flee to the West.
The Kosteyev State National Museum. Exhibition of S. Kalmykov, I. Itkind, and V. Eifert�s works, and Rudolf Nuriev�s painting.
From 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
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